Akrura described how he was sent to invite them to dhanur yajna for the purpose of being killed by Canura.

He described the message he was sent to deliver and its purpose. He also described the cause of enmity—what Nārada had explained about his birth from Vasudeva. This was previously described in chapter 36. Nanda and the cowherds would be called along with Kṛṣṇa and Balarāma (the message) in order that the wrestlers could kill Kṛṣṇa (the purpose). This is also described in Hari-vaṁśa. Hari-vaṁśa also described other information given by Akrūra. śvaḥ purīṁ mathurāṁ tāta gamiṣyāmaḥ sukhāya vai // yāsyanti ca vrajāḥ sarve sagokula-parigrahāḥ / kaṁsājṣayā samucitaṁ karam ādāya vārṣikam // samṛddhas tasya kaṁsasya bhaviṣyati dhanurmahaḥ / taṁ drakṣyatha samṛddhaṁ ca svajanaṁ ca sameṣyatha // pitaraṁ vasudevaṁ ca satataṁ duḥkha-bhājanam / dīnaṁ putra-vadhaśrāntaṁ yuvām atha sameṣyathaḥ // satataṁ pīḍyamānaṁ ca kaṁsenāśubha-buddhinā / daśānte śoṣitaṁ vṛddhaṁ duḥkhaiḥ śithilatāṁ gatam // kaṁsasya ca bhayāt trastaṁ bhavadbhyāṁ ca vinākṛtam / dahyamānaṁ divā rātrau sotkaṇṭhenāntarātmanā // tāṁ ca drakṣyāmi govinda putrair amṛdita-stanīm / devakīṁ deva-saṁkāśāṁ sidantīṁ vihata-prabhām // putraśokena śuṣyantīṁ tvad darśana-parāyaṇām / viyoga-śoka-saṁtaptāṁ vivatsām iva saurabhīm // upaplutekṣaṇāṁ nityaṁ nityaṁ malina-vāsasam / svarbhānu-vadana-grastāṁ śaśāṇkasya prabhām iva // tvad-darśana-parāṁ nityaṁ tavāgamana-kāṇkṣiṇīm / tvat-pravṛttena śokena sīdantīṁ vai tapasvinīm // tatprabheṣv akuśalāṁ tvayā bālye viyojitām / Arūpajṣāṁ tava vibho vaktrasyāsyendu-varcasaḥ // yadi tvāṁ janayitvā sā kliśyate kṛṣṇa devakī / apatyārtho nu kas tasyā varaṁ hy evānapatyatā // tvaṁ tu śakra-samaḥ putro yasyās tvat-sadṛśo guṇaiḥ / pareṣām apy abhayado na sā śocitum arhati // vṛddhau tavāmbāpitarau para-bhṛtyatvam āgatau / bharstyete tvat-kṛte tena kaṁsenāśubha-buddhinā // yadi te devakī mānyā pṛthivīvātma-dhāriṇī / tāṁ śoka-salile magnām uttārayitum arhasi // taṁ ca vṛddhaṁ priyasutaṁ vasudevaṁ sukhocitam / putra-yogena saṁyojya kṛṣṇa dharmam avāpsyasi yathā nāgaḥ sudurvṛtto damito yamunā-hrade / vipulaś ca dhṛtaḥ śailo yathā vai bhū-dharas tvayā // darpotsikaś ca balavān ariṣṭo vinipātitaḥ / para-prāṇa-haraḥ keśī duṣṭātmā ca hatas tvayā // etenaiva prayatnena vṛddhāv uddhṛtya duḥkhitau / yathā dharmam avāpnoṣi tat kṛṣṇa paricintyatām // nirbhartsyamāno yair dṛṣṭaḥ pitā te kṛṣṇa saṁsadi / te sarve cakrur aśrūṇi netrair duḥkhānvitā bhṛśam // garbhāv akṛntanādīni duḥkhāni ca bahūny api / mātā te devakī kṛṣṇa kaṁsasya sahate 'vaśā // We will go happily to Mathurā tomorrow. All the people of Vraja will go along with their families, taking the yearly tax as ordered by Kaṁsa. The festival of the great bow of Kaṁsa will be held. You will see the prosperity and meet your relatives. You will meet Vasudeva, your father, always grieving and miserable, exhausted because his sons were killed. He is always in pain, thinking of Kaṁsa’s evil. He has aged, is dried up, with limp body, and is almost dead. He is fearful of Kaṁsa, and burns day and night, internally and externally, out of longing in separation from you and Balarāma. O Govinda! You will see Devakī, her breasts unsucked by sons. She is depressed, like a devatā without effulgence, dried up because of lamentation for her sons. She depends on seeing you. She is afflicted with lamentation in separation from you, like a cow without her calf. Her eyes are continually filled with tears. Her clothing is soiled. She resembles the moon devoured by Rāhu. She longs to see you, and desires your coming at all times. Depressed because of lamentation for you, she has become austere. She has lost all power because of being separated from you when you were a baby. O Lord! She does not know the effulgence of your moon-like face. O Kṛṣṇa! Having given birth to you, if she suffers, what is the purpose of having a son? It is better she had no children. There is only suffering for women without sons. You are her son equal to Indra, with similar qualities to him. You should give fearlessness to others. She should not lament. Your elderly parents have become subservient to others. For you, they endure chastisement from evil-minded Kaṁsa. Since Devakī, tolerant like the earth, respects you, you must deliver her, for she is inundated in the ocean of suffering. O Kṛṣṇa! You must be reunited with elderly Vasudeva, affectionate for you, and attain dharma. Just as you subdued the wicked snake in the lake of the Yamunā, just as you held up the huge mountain as if holding up the earth, so you killed strong, proud Ariṣṭa and evil, murderous Keśī. O Kṛṣṇa! You should deliver your parents with care, and attain dharma. Think of this. Those who saw your father scolded by Kaṁsa in the assembly became filled with grief and shed tears. Your mother Devakī, dependant on Kaṁsa, bears unlimited suffering, which tears apart her womb.

Svayam means Akrūra. “Why did you wait so long and only now have come?” He related Nārada’s words. He explained his intention to take Kṛṣṇa along with his father and brother to Mathurā from Gokula (yad-artham) and what Kaṁsa had told him. Śukadeva does not give details of these talks out of his pain. Hari-vaṁsa gives more details. śvaḥ purīṁ mathurāṁ tāta gamiṣyāmaḥ sukhāya vai // yāsyanti ca vrajāḥ sarve sagokula-parigrahāḥ / kaṁsājṣayā samucitaṁ karam ādāya vārṣikam // samṛddhas tasya kaṁsasya bhaviṣyati dhanurmahaḥ / taṁ drakṣyatha samṛddhaṁ ca svajanaṁ ca sameṣyatha // pitaraṁ vasudevaṁ ca satataṁ duḥkha-bhājanam / dīnaṁ putra-vadhaśrāntaṁ yuvām atha sameṣyathaḥ // satataṁ pīḍyamānaṁ ca kaṁsenāśubha-buddhinā / daśānte śoṣitaṁ vṛddhaṁ duḥkhaiḥ śithilatāṁ gatam // kaṁsasya ca bhayāt trastaṁ bhavadbhyāṁ ca vinākṛtam / dahyamānaṁ divā rātrau sotkaṇṭhenāntarātmanā // tāṁ ca drakṣyāmi govinda putrair amṛdita-stanīm / devakīṁ deva-saṁkāśāṁ sidantīṁ vihata-prabhām // putraśokena śuṣyantīṁ tvad darśana-parāyaṇām / viyoga-śoka-saṁtaptāṁ vivatsām iva saurabhīm // upaplutekṣaṇāṁ nityaṁ nityaṁ malina-vāsasam / svarbhānu-vadana-grastāṁ śaśāṇkasya prabhām iva // tvad-darśana-parāṁ nityaṁ tavāgamana-kāṇkṣiṇīm / tvat-pravṛttena śokena sīdantīṁ vai tapasvinīm // tatprabheṣv akuśalāṁ tvayā bālye viyojitām / Arūpajṣāṁ tava vibho vaktrasyāsyendu-varcasaḥ // yadi tvāṁ janayitvā sā kliśyate kṛṣṇa devakī / apatyārtho nu kas tasyā varaṁ hy evānapatyatā // tvaṁ tu śakra-samaḥ putro yasyās tvat-sadṛśo guṇaiḥ / pareṣām apy abhayado na sā śocitum arhati // vṛddhau tavāmbāpitarau para-bhṛtyatvam āgatau / bharstyete tvat-kṛte tena kaṁsenāśubha-buddhinā // yadi te devakī mānyā pṛthivīvātma-dhāriṇī / tāṁ śoka-salile magnām uttārayitum arhasi // taṁ ca vṛddhaṁ priyasutaṁ vasudevaṁ sukhocitam / putra-yogena saṁyojya kṛṣṇa dharmam avāpsyasi yathā nāgaḥ sudurvṛtto damito yamunā-hrade / vipulaś ca dhṛtaḥ śailo yathā vai bhū-dharas tvayā // darpotsikaś ca balavān ariṣṭo vinipātitaḥ / para-prāṇa-haraḥ keśī duṣṭātmā ca hatas tvayā // etenaiva prayatnena vṛddhāv uddhṛtya duḥkhitau / yathā dharmam avāpnoṣi tat kṛṣṇa paricintyatām // nirbhartsyamāno yair dṛṣṭaḥ pitā te kṛṣṇa saṁsadi / te sarve cakrur aśrūṇi netrair duḥkhānvitā bhṛśam // garbhāv akṛntanādīni duḥkhāni ca bahūny api / mātā te devakī kṛṣṇa kaṁsasya sahate 'vaśā // We will go happily to Mathurā tomorrow. All the people of Vraja will go along with their families, taking the yearly tax as ordered by Kaṁsa. The festival of the great bow of Kaṁsa will be held. You will see the prosperity and meet your relatives. You will meet Vasudeva, your father, always grieving and miserable, exhausted because his sons were killed. He is always in pain, thinking of Kaṁsa’s evil. He has aged, is dried up, with limp body, and is almost dead. He is fearful of Kaṁsa, and burns day and night, internally and externally, out of longing in separation from you and Balarāma. O Govinda! You will see Devakī, her breasts unsucked by sons. She is depressed, like a devatā without effulgence, dried up because of lamentation for her sons. She depends on seeing you. She is afflicted with lamentation in separation from you, like a cow without her calf. Her eyes are continually filled with tears. Her clothing is soiled. She resembles the moon devoured by Rāhu. She longs to see you, and desires your coming at all times. Depressed because of lamentation for you, she has become austere. She has lost all power because of being separated from you when you were a baby. O Lord! She does not know the effulgence of your moon-like face. O Kṛṣṇa! Having given birth to you, if she suffers, what is the purpose of having a son? It is better she had no children. There is only suffering for women without sons. You are her son equal to Indra, with qualities similar to him. You should give fearlessness to others. She should not lament. Your elderly parents have become subservient to others. For you, they endure chastisement from evil-minded Kaṁsa. Since Devakī, tolerant like the earth, respects you, you must deliver her, for she is inundated in the ocean of suffering. O Kṛṣṇa! You must be reunited with elderly Vasudeva, affectionate for you, and attain dharma. Just as you subdued the wicked snake in the lake of the Yamunā, just as you held up the huge mountain as if holding up the earth, so you killed strong, proud Ariṣṭa and evil, murderous Keśī. O Kṛṣṇa! You should deliver your parents with care, and attain dharma. Think of this. Those who saw your father scolded by Kaṁsa in the assembly became filled with grief and shed tears. Your mother Devakī, dependent on Kaṁsa, bears unlimited suffering, which tears apart her womb. He said this to invoke the Lord’s compassion.